Best Books 2022: Non-Fiction

Looking for recommendations for your 2023 reading list? Here are my top 10 non-fiction books from last year.

I present them here in no particular order. Also, while I read them last year, they were not all released in 2022.

Note: This is not a blanket endorsement of all views in each book.

The Price of Panic (Axe, Briggs, Richards)

Unpacking the inconvenient truths of national and global responses to Covid-19. This is the horror story we all lived but didn’t fully understand. Warning: Not to be read on an upset stomach.

Humanly Speaking (Michael Spencer)

Many texts have presented a solid pro-life apologetic, but Spencer’s urgency and genuine love for the church sets his new release apart.

You’ll not only learn how to talk about abortion but also, perhaps more importantly, you’ll finish wanting to do so as an act of worship to God.

Logic and the Way of Jesus (Travis Dickinson)

We often think of Christ as morally exemplary. But, as Dickinson reminds us, he is also our model of how to think.

This book is part theological insight and part logic manual. A great resource for learning to follow Christ and think rightly.

A Change of Affections (Becket Cook)

Riveting. Cook’s conversion pointed not to his own might but to the God who loves him.

Today it seems everyone bows to the altar of sexual sin. But that is not the whole story. Some people, by God’s grace, are smashing their idols.

The Intentional Father (Jon Tyson)

With young children, sometimes it seems we are just trying to stay afloat. This book forced me to step back and ask: What should discipleship look like? How can I create moments to mark the journey to adulthood my children are on?

The Men We Need (Brant Hansen)

I love wide open spaces, but Hansen gets that not all men are going to be expert hunter-gatherers.

He calls men to be men by looking back to the first one. Adam was commissioned by God to tend a garden. He failed, and we have failed, but by God’s grace we can protect, nurture the figurative (or literal) garden in which He’s placed us.

Hansen’s writing was so fresh in this genre that I read a few other books of his immediately after.

The Blood of Emmett Till (Timothy Tyson)

I’ve been listening to and retelling Emmett’s story for two decades, but there was much I didn’t know.

This book helped me understand Mamie’s infamous (and heroic) choice to show the world what happened to her boy. It also detailed cultural responses to the Supreme Court overturning bad precedent, which were eerily similar to responses to Dobbs.

Recommendation: This book pairs well with Till, the movie released last year.

Evidence Not Seen (Darlene Deibler Rose)

I devoured this in one day in audiobook form. The story of one woman grappling with faith under fire was gripping.

What made it not only inspiring but also enjoyable was her sharp wit punctuating the tale.

Red Scarf Girl (Ji-Li Jiang)

A true story. A cautionary tale for today. The most striking scene, I found, was when this young Chinese girl is asked to inform on her parents, to give the state what they need to take her family down.

This is a story all families should read.

Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life (Colin Duriez)

An intimate portrait of a hero. It neither cuts him down nor constructs a man of stone. Duriez put to words what I’ve always found so compelling about Schaeffer: the enduring realism of his theology.

This is a story of the man told by one who knew him well, which makes the story of how God used Schaeffer even more beautiful.

What non-fiction reads (or listens—audiobooks count!) stood out to you in 2022? Leave a comment below. I’d love to add it to my list for 2023.